Chapter 33: Call to Me—Promise of Healing and the Eternal Covenant

(26 Pesukim)

Overview

While Yermiyahu is still imprisoned during Jerusalem’s siege, Hashem speaks again, offering hope beyond devastation. This chapter assures restoration, joy, and an unbreakable covenant with David and the priesthood, anchored in the permanence of day and night.

1. Invitation and Assurance (33:1-5)

• Hashem came to Yermiyahu a second time while he was still imprisoned in the palace of Jerusalem saying:
  • “Call to Me, and I will answer—revealing great and hidden things you do not know.”
• Though the city’s houses lie in ruins and corpses fill its streets from war and plague, Hashem promises healing and peace.

2. Restoration and Forgiveness (33:6-10)

• Hashem now promises that after the above destruction He will: Rebuild Judah and Israel as before. Cleanse them from all sin and rebellion. Forgive completely.
• Behold, I will bring this city healing and cure; I will heal them, and I will reveal to them a message of peace and truth. I will return the captivity of Judah and Israel and rebuild them as they once were. I will purify them from all their sins which they committed against Me, and I will forgive all their iniquities—those through which they sinned against Me and rebelled against Me.
• Jerusalem will once again become a name of joy and honor among nations, who will marvel at Hashem’s goodness and peace. And it shall be for Me a name of joy, a praise, and a glory before all the nations of the earth, who will hear of all the goodness that I do for them. They will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I bestow upon it. Thus I declare: Once again there will be heard in this place—about which you say, “It is desolate, without man or beast”—in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, which are now laid waste without inhabitant, without human and without animal.

3. Joy Returns (33:11-13)

• Hashem promises that sounds of gladness, voices of bride and groom. Songs of thanksgiving: “Give thanks to Hashem, for His mercy endures forever.” Shepherds will once more count their flocks in Judah’s towns, from the hill country to the Negev.
• The sound of mirth and the sound of joy will once again be heard before Me—the voice of a bridegroom and the voice of a bride, and the voices of those who say, “Give thanks to the Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good, for My loving‑kindness endures forever,” as they bring thanksgiving offerings to My House.
• For I will restore the captivity of the land as it was in former days. Thus I, the Lord of Hosts, declare: Once again, in this place that is now desolate, without man or beast, and in all its cities, there will be dwellings for shepherds who rest their flocks.
• In the cities of the mountain, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the surroundings of Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks will once again pass under the hands of the one who counts them—so I, the Lord, declare.

4. The Return of the Branch of David (33:14-16)

• Hashem reaffirms His promise to the Jewish people to return the dynasty of David:
  • “Days are coming when I will raise up a righteous branch from David.” Days are coming, says Hashem, when I will fulfill the good promise that I spoke concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days, at that appointed time, I will cause a righteous shoot from the line of David to spring forth.
  • Hashem says that this king will rule with justice and righteousness.
• In the days of the king:
  • Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem secure.
  • The city will be called: ‘Hashem is our righteousness.’

5. Eternal Covenant with Israel (33:17-22)

• Hashem promises that the dynasty of David will not lack a descendant on Israel’s throne of reign.
• The Levitical priests will never cease offering sacrifices.
• Hashem compares this covenant to the fixed order of day and night:
  • If those laws can be broken, then His covenant could fail—but they cannot.
• David’s descendants and the Levites will be as countless as the stars and the sand.

6. The Kingship and Priesthood are eternal (33:23-26)

• And the word of Hashem came to me, saying:

“Do you see what this people is saying—that the two families I chose [i.e. Davidic dynasty and priesthood from Ahron[1]], I have now rejected? By speaking this way, they try to make My people believe that they are no longer a nation before them.”

• Thus says Hashem: If you could break My covenant with the day and with the night—if you could undo the fixed laws of heaven and earth that I established—only then would I reject the seed of Yaakov and of David My servant. Only then would I refuse to take rulers from his descendants over the seed of Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. But that will never be, for I will bring back their captivity, and I will have mercy upon them.
• Some claim Hashem has rejected His chosen families—but He declares:
  • “As surely as My covenant with creation stands, so will My promise to Jacob and David.” אִם־לֹ֥א בְרִיתִ֖י יוֹמָ֣ם וָלָ֑יְלָה חֻקּ֛וֹת שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָ֖רֶץ לֹא־שָֽׂמְתִּי:
• Hashem will restore their fortunes and show mercy.

[1] Rashi 33:24